Haha for Germans it’s the same with both ^^ (at least it used to be when I was young 
)
I must confess it was sort of the same for me, back when I tried to read it. I just thought it contains way too many unusual vocab which slowed me down enormously….
So far it isn’t the vocab holding me back. Mostly the more complex sentences that exist in narrative. And probably some author voice stuff.
But then, vocab is kinda something I have to look up a lot whatever I’m reading, so maybe it would be more accurate to say that it isn’t holding me back more than I’m used to. 
I didn’t know that. Cool. Gestures can be so hit or miss whether they mean the same thing (or maybe whether they exist or not) even with culturally similar countries. ^^
Funny enough, where I grew up in the US, crossing your fingers behind your back had the same meaning as you describe, but crossing your fingers anywhere else would be the “hope” meaning.
That said, the area I grew up in also had a “neighborhood” (such as you could call it in such a small, rural town 
) called New Sweden, so I wonder if that meaning seeped in that way? 
More Swedish culture than I would have imagined have survived in areas (Minnesota for example) where a lot of Swedish immigrants settled in the US in the mid to late 19th century (and early 20th century) so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. 
I started 光のラブレター ch 1 雨上がりのメランコリー, reading 11 pgs and leaving off on pg 32. We pick up 3 days after the prologue. Midzuki’s been worrying over the love letter because 1) as she rarely talks to any guys other than Kaito, she’s of course never received a confession, and now here she has, and 2) she has no freaking clue who it’s from. It’s signed Satou, and while it’s a common surname, there was no one by that name in her class in first year, and though she knows she must have come across this guy somehow, somewhen, she just cannot think of anyone. Thus has she been worrying these past 3 days, even to the point where she doesn’t pay much mind to her jealousy over Ritsu and Kaito. Finally she decides to write him a reply and asks for a response either in her shoebox or in person, but it’s left between the pages of こころ again. Yeahhh this book’s like 270 pgs long, you’re not gonna meet him on pg 30 lol
Oh my god, but what if she does. What if he’s the 図書委員 on duty when she checks out that sweets magazine whom she thinks is brusque and unfriendly. If he has library duty, he could know who she is without her knowing him, and he could know which book she’s always reading! (And that she’s left a reply in it.) There’s not much else reason she’d take particular notice of him right here either unless he’d turn out to be the mysterious Satou-kun.
I played a little bit of DQXI today, not much more than just to get the bunny suit and complete the quest I needed it for.
紛れもない (まぎれもない) [expression, い-adjective] certain; unmistaken; evident; obvious; without a doubt
堅苦しい (かたくるしい) [い-adjective] formal; strict; ceremonious; stiff
奥手 (おくて) [noun] late bloomer
背表紙 (せびょうし) [noun] spine of a book; binding of a book
ぶっきらぼう [noun, な-adjective] curt; blunt; brusque
June 18 
Home Post
I started off by reading chapter 7 of 海辺のカフカ; not a particularly eventful chapter from what I remember but it’s cool being able to read a whole chapter in a sitting relatively comfortably! I remember the days of spending hours and hours going through like 3 pages of a book haha 
so it’s nice to have like… a new standard 
I also played some more バディミッションBOND because obviously; I’m still having a lot of fun with it! There’s definitely a lot of variety in speech patterns which is cool but challenging. I don’t really know how to describe how モクマ talks but like… he sure says some things I’m out here running into specific phrases like 化けの皮を剥ぐ and 十人十色, and he genuinely uses おたく as a second person pronoun which might not be that weird but I certainly haven’t seen it, and it’s not like he’s polite really He’s a time!
Same! I’m not aware of any particular Swedish influence where I’ve lived (I’m not a historical expert so grain of salt ) so that’s interesting, I’ve never really thought about it 
(📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱 - #12 by DIO-Berry)
6/18
149-174
Huh, I’m surprised I read that much. I was really tired yesterday and thought I’d read 5 pages and then sleep.
June 19th!
Today I read Chapter 9 of Happiness. I had a fun moment while I was reading it, where a piece of grammar I had been studying just before I started reading was used. It’s always so satisfying when you get to recognise something like that 
I also started Volume 7 of Teasing Master Takagi-san. It was a fun chapter that was a flashback, I always love seeing little glimpses of the past so I really enjoyed it.
The June Tanuki Den: Date 20220619 
No Longer Tanuki Progress: 31.53%
I don’t think I’ll ever forget 自分 after reading this, it’s used so much.
Not had time to read much today but still found a decent amount of new words.
Japanese found in the tall grass
身辺「しんぺん」ー One’s person; around your being
鮮明「せんめい」ー Vivid; clear; distinct
愕然「がくぜん」ー Astonished; shocked; amazed
俗なる「ぞくなる」ー Vulgar
達者「たっしゃ」ー In good health; healthy; robust
嗅ぎ当てる「かぎあてる」ー To sniff out; to catch the scent of
寄り添う「よりそう」ー To get close to (physically); to cuddle/snuggle together
卑猥「ひわい」ー Indecent; obscene
薄化粧「うすげしょう」ー Light make-up
市電「しでん」ー Tram; municipal railway
消極的「しょうきょくてき」ー Negative; passive; unmotivated
Forms
幽か ＝ 微か「かすか」ー Weak; faint; dim; vague
Hi All!
Quick question!
With the first day of summer just around the corner, will anyone be starting another “Read Every Day” seasonal challenge? I’ve been doing summer reading at the library with my daughter, so I would love to challenge myself to be consistent with reading in Japanese as well.
I’d assume so. @windupbird have so far done all of them (except the original).
Thank you for your service so far and in the future, @windupbird! o7
June 19
Three pages of Zenitendou today. I’m moving up in the world! And for once it didn’t feel like it kicked my butt. I keep thinking I should reread everything I’ve read so far, to experience the story in a less start-and-stop-start-and-stop fashion, but I think I might just finish the whole short story first; and then reread.
Turns out that maybe what I need to focus on in this more intensive read is to pay attention to particles and such, because they will probably answer any question I have or anything I’m thinking of diving deeper into. 
Yes! I’ll be putting up a thread for the summer challenge next weekend, with the challenge to start July 1st ^^ Would love to have you join!
(📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱 - #12 by DIO-Berry)
6/19
175 - end (202)
Gotta love Hol Horse, “My stand is a gun.”
Also, please enjoy some of his namesake
The sound of cicadas and the sight of cottonwood fluff floating on the breeze… I almost don’t mind the 100° heat. (Almost.)
Also we’re nearly two-thirds of the way through June and I’ve still only finished 1 book. I gotta change that.
…Which is to say that, aside from starting SPY×FAMILY for the club today, I also started another manga. My brain’s been really bleh lately, and I can’t really get myself to focus on the other books I’ve started. I chose 晴れのち四季部: A Warm Sunshine, and the Four Seasons Club since it seemed it would be easy. It’s a (full-color!) ４コマ, and it’s somewhat like a gay(er) GSNK except instead of ch 1 starting with a confession that gets mistaken for a declaration of intent to help work on his manga, ch 1 ends with a declaration of intent to join his after-school club that gets mistaken for a confession. (And even after Haruno realizes how Yamato took it, he basically just goes, ‘wellp, guess we’re boyfriends now’ lmao) Yamato’s a returnee, and the first thing he does is declare that he’s starting a four seasons club (to appreciate Japanese culture and beauty and whatnot), and he spends like the whole first chapter trying to recruit members and specifically Haruno (Haruno: I’m not joining! Don’t think you can lure me in with food! *joins anyway*) and developing a lil crush on him. It’s hilarious and cute and everyone’s a dumbass. Anyway I read ch 1 桜 and ch 2 鯉のぼり.
Anyway I keep wanting to read Yamato’s surname (一瀬) as いちのせ. It’s ひとせ, which apparently is an actual, if uncommon, reading. (My IME will only let me type it either as いちのせ or separately). Haruno start calling your boyfriend by his given name challenge. He already calls you by yours. (Haruno’s is a [I assume] unique reading of the kanji 日乃, but that’s easier for me to remember somehow.)
I read ch 1 of SPY×FAMILY. This week’s assignment was only half of it, but I don’t like leaving off partway through a chapter. I know Loid and Yor are more or less the same age, but Loid’s age (why??) is one of the things redacted on his profile, and he looks really young with his hair down, so I wonder if he’s younger than Yor is. Actually, I rather like the idea of him being younger for some reason, so I kinda hope he is lol. Anyway, I’m really enjoying this manga so far. Anya’s adorable and hilarious (and also I love the little sparks that show she’s using her ability?), and it’s nice seeing Loid trying so hard to be a good father to her even though he’s bad with kids.
I need more bookmarks.
満開 (まんかい) [noun, する verb] full bloom (esp. of sakura)
蕾 (つぼみ) [noun] (flower) bud
恐らく (おそらく) [adverb] perhaps; likely; probably; dare I say. My first time seeing it in kanji, and I’m happy to report that I knew exactly what I was, even if I don’t understand how this word came from this kanji. Ohhh, scratch that, it’s apparently a slight shortening of the expression 恐らくは, which means “I fear that it’s likely that.” That makes sense now.
鯉のぼり (こいのぼり) [noun] carp streamer
動じる (どうじる) [一, intransitive] to be perturbed; to be agitated
日の目を見る (ひのめをみる) [expression, 一] to see the light of day; to be revealed (to the world); to be realized
児戯 (じぎ) [noun] mere child’s play
念のため (ねんのため) [expression, adverb] just to be sure, just in case, to be safe, for caution’s sake
June 19 Home Post
I played some more バディミッションBOND! when I could stop myself from playing Hollow Knight, the switch is a dangerous rabbit-hole lmao It’s still wild; it’s really just ルーク gradually accumulating weirder and weirder people to hang out and solve crimes with They certainly make an interesting group. And the speech patterns keep expanding; at this point I’d say ルーク is fairly standard guy with some police slang thrown in here and there, アーロン is aggro shounen to the extreme, モクマ I think is playing on ninja concepts but also just like… weird lmao, and new man チェズレイ is polite and elegant but in like a scary way And today there was a random guy using like 拙者 and でござる and it was cool not being super thrown by that, just “ah yes samurai speech” So yeah very interesting! Definitely getting exposed to a lot of specific vocabulary which is a good learning opportunity 
So I officially met チェズレイ and oh boy is he something. He started talking and I was like “ohh I know that voice, uh oh” It’s Namikawa Daisuke aka like Oikawa, Hisoka, Jellal, y’know that kind of voice, so that really set the vibes from the beginning haha. So yeah I like him so far! I’m just also terrified of him but I think that’s probably wise. He’s pretty cool though; his whole thing is being crazy good at disguises, man of 100 faces, where have I seen that before haha. But yeah it’s cool, and can also like… control people through music? Unclear exactly what the mechanics of that are (I suspect it might be connected to the experiments that have been mentioned ), but it’s made for some really cool sequences of him doing do-re-mi scales as people do his bidding, pretty wild. His morals are also questionable He’s absolutely killed people but like… bad people? So jury’s still out a bit I suppose, he’s pretty morally gray though.
The チェズレイ and モクマ dynamic is interesting too; they’re obviously presented as kind of a pair in the opening and such but I didn’t expect them to be quite like this It’s a whole thing because モクマ “saved” him as he was trying to escape as part of his plan, which チェズレイ didn’t really want obviously but still as far as モクマ knew he was risking his life to save who チェズレイ was at the time which is something alright! So yeah it’s like… what モクマ did didn’t actually benefit チェズレイ, but the meaning is still there you know? So there’s a weird sense of gratitude, of course accompanied by the clash of モクマ being insanely competent and also a hot mess
Poor モクマ is going through it, he’s just befriending more and more attractive people and I don’t think his heart can handle it But there was also an indication of some angst with him too? I guess チェズレイ can kind of read people’s hearts or something because he said he felt that モクマ actually wanted to die when he jumped out of the airship to save him and that’s… ouch? It didn’t really go into detail, cut over to the other two being chaotic pretty quickly, but that’s really rough. This game keeps going into darker territory than I expect, I don’t know why I keep being surprised but… yeah, I hope モクマ’s alright 
Anyway some fun screenshots bc I have no self-control:
Yes this is how fight scenes work… “don’t shoot, I have a surfboard!!” yeah… yeah
See モクマ is cool sometimes!! You’d never believe it from the way he normally acts but I guess that’s the trick huh
The man himself after being forced to unmask and so feeling like honor-bound and saying like “my body is yours now” and they’re all like “why!! Why are you saying it like this!!” He’s just like that huh
Rip in pieces モクマ, you will be missed
Aww that looks super cute!! You had me at GSNK haha, another one for the infinite list
Finished volume 2 of YKK. Not much too say except it’s good and wholesome. I found the little backstory of gramps and doctor to be neat. Dude has always looked like that lol. Continuing with volume 3 today.
Also finished chapter 2 of Spy x Family novel. It was a bit of a weird one, uncle Yuri got called in to babysit Anya. Wanting to leave a good impression with his sister, he took Anya to career orientation I believe. There’s an open day program for various careers where they showcase things to kids. So one of them is with the police and they did an interrogation. Can see how that goes lol.
I’ll probably start reading chapter 3 tonight. Haven’t been able to read anything else, but that’s okay.
The June Tanuki Den: Date 20220620
No Longer Tanuki Progress: 35.11%
Third of the way through now, think some of the new words are slowly sinking in.
Japanese found in the tall grass
モダニティー ー Modernity
見栄坊「みえぼう」ー A person who looks good (and knows it - is the nuance here); vain person
算術「さんじゅつ」ー Arithmetic
親愛 「しんあい」ー Deep affection
非合法「ひごうほう」ー Illegal; unlawful
居心地「いごこち」ー Comfort
底知れず「そこしれず」ー Bottomless; Never-ending; immeasurable
日蔭者「ひかげもの」ー A person who hides from the world; someone who can’t be seen by the world (such as illegitimate children hidden from the outside world so people don’t know of an affair, people who are wanted by the law and are in hiding etc. though can be, as here, in a less direct sense - someone who is so full of shame or disgust for themselves that they cannot bare to face the outside world)
糟糠「そうこう」ー plain food
糟糠の妻「そうこうのつま」ー A devoted wife; someone who has stayed with you through poverty, hardship, rough times etc.
侘しい「わびしい」ー Miserable; wretched; lonely; dreary
脛「すね」ー Shin; lower leg
痛苦「つうく」ー Anguish
千変万化「せんぺんばんか」ー Ever-changing; innumerable changes; infinite variety
烈火「れっか」ー Raging fire
除名「じょめい」ー Expulsion; striking a name from a list; excommunication
牢屋「ろうや」ー Jail
Forms
慾 ＝ 欲「よく」(Want; greed; craving; desire)
June 20th
・ 詩的私的ジャック - Jack the Poetical Private (0% → 5%)
Read a tiny bit yesterday and a bit more today.
Jun 21, Tue calendar post
Ch.10
Should I download an emulator? But don’t know if I will be able to find ROM at this age. ↩︎
June 20th!
I read chapter 25 of Mitsuboshi Colors today. It was a fun one.
I was planning to read more tonight as Mitsuboshi Colors is usually quite a quick read for me, but I had a bit of a long day today so I decided to take it easy!
